Expecting
by gemjam
Summary: RayNeela. Ray and Neela's relationship hits a bump. A baby bump to be precise.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **Ok, this is my first real attempt at fanfiction so I'd really love any feedback you guys have to give – what you like, what you don't like. This is just one of the many ideas that popped into my head and I decided to go with it, why not? I've got the first three chapters done and am starting work on the fourth so let me know if you like it and I shall attempt to get it finished soon.

**Expecting**

Neela stared down at the pregnancy test in her hands. She checked it. Double checked it. Triple checked it. The she checked it one more time, just to be sure. Nope, still pregnant. _Shit!_

A sudden banging on the door made Neela jump out of her skin.

"Neela, what are you doing in there? I really have to pee," Ray shouted through the door.

Neela tried to focus her thoughts enough to answer him. "Erm…"

"What are you doing? You've been in there twenty minutes."

"Yeah, sorry, I know. Just, erm, give me a minute, ok?"

"I'm about to piss my pants out here, Neela."

"I said just a minute, Ray!" she snapped back, hoping she could make him be quiet long enough for her to sort out a few things in her head.

"Ok, alright," came Ray's reply from the other side of the door, sounding a little wounded.

_Ok, Neela, think about this rationally. You have to tell him. There's no point you sitting in here on your own worrying about this. It's just as much his problem as it is yours. Just open the door and tell him._

Neela sat down heavily on the closed toilet lid. _Easier said than done, _she thought.

"Neela?" Ray asked in a small voice.

She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror, taking a deep breath. She knew it had to be done.

She opened the door and stood in the doorway, unable to make eye-contact with Ray. He was just about to move past her into the bathroom when he spotted the pregnancy test in her hands. He stopped in his tracks, shocked.

"Are you…?"

Neela slowly looked up at him, surprised by how much effort it took. They looked each other in the eye, both their faces blank as their minds raced.

"Yep."

Ray stood and continued to stare at her, unsure how to react. Neela suddenly regretted telling him. She wanted to retreat and sort out her own feelings before she had to deal with his.

"Didn't you have to pee?" she asked him.

"Suddenly not," he replied, still dazed.

"Oh."

He tried to process it all. Neela was pregnant. He was going to be a father. They were going to be parents. He just had to think about this rationally. He loved Neela and, if he was being honest, the thought of starting a family with her had crossed his mind. But this was all so soon. They'd only been together for three and a half months.

"Maybe we should sit down," he suggested.

"Ok."

They both moved over to the sofa and sat down side by side. Neela put the pregnancy test on the table in front of them as they both stared forward in silence.

"This is bad," Neela said.

Ray turned to look at her. "Bad?"

Neela turned to him. "Ray, this is really bad."

Ray shrugged. "Doesn't have to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, baby. Babies can be cool," he replied vaguely.

Neela couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You want to have this baby?"

"Neela, I think the question of whether we want a baby at this stage is rather pointless. We're having a baby."

"I know, but…" She exhaled loudly. This was all too much. She wasn't ready for this. She went back to staring into space in an attempt to stop her brain from having a meltdown.

"Are you ok?" Ray asked her.

She didn't reply. She just tried to clear her mind and hope for some kind of calm and clarity.

"Neela?"

"Ray, this is a nightmare!" she exploded, looking at him again. "Do you even understand what this means? We're just getting started in our careers, this could not come at a worse time."

"Neela, slow down a second…"

"Let me finish, Ray. I'm going to have to take time off to have the baby and then we'll have to work out some kind of schedule after it's born. We'll have to work separate shifts to make sure someone's always with the baby which means we'll never see each other. The only other option is to get a nanny but I will not have my child raised by a nanny."

She stopped to catch her breath. Ray put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Neela, we can work it out, I promise.!

"Ray, I'm not even halfway done yet. What about my parents?"

Ray looked at her blankly. "What about your parents?"

"You think they'll be happy I'm having a child out of wedlock? God, I can see the conversation now."

"So we'll get married," Ray shrugged.

"Oh, that's romantic," she scoffed. She shook her head. "I can't deal with this." She stood up and walked over to the window, staring out.

"I'm going to bed," she declared, not turning around. She stood for another few seconds and then headed for the bedroom.

"Neela…" Ray called out helplessly after her but she was gone and his bladder had suddenly kicked back in. He headed for the bathroom.


	2. Chapter 2

Neela stood at the nurse's station, staring into space and wishing for once that the ER was actually busy so that she'd have something to take her mind off things. But it wasn't busy. It was dead, for want of a better word.

Ray had managed to keep himself busy and out of the way though which was rather suspicious because Ray was never busy, even when the ER was. _That must mean he's avoiding me, _mused Neela. In fact, they hadn't really spoken since she found out she was pregnant two days ago.

"Earth to Neela."

Neela turned to her side to see Abby looking at her.

"Oh, hi, hello," Neela replied, somewhat dazed.

"Are you ok?" Abby inquired.

"Erm, yeah, I'm fine. Is there something you wanted?"

"A patient maybe," Abby thought out loud, looking over the almost empty waiting room.

"Yeah," Neela replied dreamily. "You ever get the urge to go cause a five car pile up?"

"I'm in if you are," Abby smiled.

Neela drifted back off into her own little world. Abby looked at her thoughtfully.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look a little spaced out."

"No, no, I'm fine," Neela replied, pausing. "Have you seen Ray?"

"I think he went to get some results from the lab. Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"No, not really. Not exactly."

"You wanna talk about it?" Abby offered.

"No," Neela replied simply, leaning forward on the counter and resting her chin on one of her hands. "I'm pregnant," she said quietly after a few seconds.

Abby looked at her, shocked. She took a deep breath, preparing to say something supportive, but her mind went blank. "Oh," was all she managed as she exhaled.

"I'm sorry," Neela said. "I shouldn't have told you that. I should be talking to Ray about this."

"Neela, it's…" Abby began but Neela interrupted, clearly on a roll.

"It's just that he's been so unrealistic about the whole thing, there's no point even talking to him about it. I mean, I don't think he understands how much responbibility's involved with having a child."

There was a pause. "You sound scared," Abby commented simply.

"I'm terrified," Neela admitted. "I just keep thinking about all these things. My job, my parents, our relationship, nothing's going to be the same."

"Well stop."

"What?"

"Stop."

"I can't stop. How can I stop?"

"Close your eyes," Abby instructed.

"What?"

"Just do it."

Neela gave her a wary look but did as she said.

"Ok," Abby said. "Just think about it. Think about that little, tiny baby inside of you right now. Think about that beautiful new life that's growing inside of you. Think about how special that makes you. Think about how you're part of something so much bigger than your job or your parents or your relationship. You're a mommy."

A tear fell down Neela's cheek. She opened her eyes, laughing a little as she wiped it away.

"Stupid hormones."

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Ray walked down the corridor to his apartment. He was idling, he knew he was. Neela got off two hours before he did so she'd definitely be home by now. He stopped at the door and got out his key as he felt a nervous feeling rising in his stomach.

_Pull yourself together, Barnett. This has to stop. Someone has to be a grown-up here. Now, I know you're not used to the role but you have to support Neela and you have to make her see sense._

He put his key in the door and entered the apartment.

"Neela?" he called out but stopped as he saw her sitting on the sofa, talking into the phone. He threw her an apologetic look and closed the door quietly.

As he headed over to the kitchen he noticed Neela was talking in Punjabi. _That means she's talking to her parents, _Ray thought. He reached the kitchen and got himself a drink of water. He took a sip as Neela hung up the phone and headed over to him. They were both a little awkward.

"I was just talking to my mum," Neela explained.

"How is she?" Ray asked.

"Fine. I was just arranging for her and my dad to come visit."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Neela paused. "Well, I can't tell them they're going to be grandparents over the phone, now, can I?"

Ray put his glass down on the counter, his head rushing with a million questions, not sure which one to ask.

"So, wait a minute," he began, "this means's we're having this baby?"

Neela nodded, a smile coming over her face. "That's cool, right?"

Ray could hardly contain himself. "That's very cool, Neela."

He leaned down and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"This is awesome!" Ray exclaimed.

He put Neela back on the floor but kept his arms around her, looking lovingly into her eyes. "I love you, Neela," he said, completely heartfelt.

She smiled. "Well that's good, because you're pretty much stuck with me now.

He smiled widely as he leaned in to kiss her.


	3. Chapter 3

Ray woke up to see Neela across the room from him, looking at herself side on in the mirror. She was using one hand to hold up her t-shirt, exposing her stomach, her other hand lightly running over the revealed area.

"What are you doing?" Ray asked her.

She didn't turn away from the mirror as she spoke. "Look at this, I'm showing already! My parents are going to know I'm pregnant before I even have a chance to say 'hello'."

Ray looked at her flat stomach, confused. He knew she was pregnant and he couldn't even tell. "Neela, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

She turned to face him, clearly annoyed. "Look at me," she stated.

Ray looked again. He squinted a little and angled his head to the side but he couldn't for the life of him see what she was talking about. He shook his head a little. "Sorry, Neela," he said, "but I really don't see it. I mean, you're not even three months yet. You don't even look like you've had a big lunch."

Neela sighed and let her t-shirt fall back down.

"Come on, come back to bed," Ray said.

"I can't come back to bed, we have to get ready for work," Neela replied.

"But the alarm hasn't even gone off yet."

"It went off ten minutes ago," Neela explained. "And then I nudged you and told you you had to get up."

Ray frowned. He didn't remember the alarm going off. Or any nudging for that matter. He looked over at the clock and found that, as usual, she was right.

"Ok, so I'm getting up," he grumbled as he climbed out of bed. He walked over to her and put his arms around her. "You're worried about your parents coming tonight, right?"

"You could say that, yes."

"It'll be fine, Neela."

"I just don't know what they're going to think about the whole thing. They know we're dating but they haven't even met you yet."

"Isn't that what today's in aid of?"

"Yes I suppose it is," she conceded. She put a hand up to her temple. "Oh, I'm giving myself a headache."

Ray angled her face up towards his. "Relax," he said.

He leaned in to kiss her but she pulled away. "Morning breath," she explained.

Ray nodded a little. "Right." He kissed her on the cheek and then headed over to the closet.

Neela watched as he picked out some clothes. "Wait, not that t-shirt," she said.

Ray looked down at the sleeveless band t-shirt he had chosen to wear. "What? Why not?"

"Just, no," Neela struggled. She walked over to his closet and, after some searching, managed to find a plain t-shirt that actually went past the shoulder. She laid it on the bed. "Here, wear this."

"Why?"

"And do you have a sensible belt?" she asked, heading back over to the closet.

Ray looked confused. "Neela, why are you dressing me? Cos, personally, I like it better when you _un_dress me," he said with a flirtatious smile but Neela was paying no attention to him. "Neela?"

She turned to face him. "What?"

"What are you doing?"

"You have to look like a grown-up today, Ray. You can't look like some teenage rockstar wannabe, my parents will have a fit. You're going to be the father of their grandchild, you have to look like it."

"Or, I could just act like it," Ray suggested. "Surely that's more important."

"Well, that too obviously," Neela said, clearly irritated.

"Ok, here's the deal," said Ray. "I'll wear these clothes, I'll act like a grown-up and together we'll prove to them that we can do this. Deal?"

Neela nodded a little, starting to feel better. "Deal."

"And remember," he said as he moved back towards her, "I'm right here next to you, whatever happens."

He put his arms around her and she felt instantly safe. She even managed a smile as she looked up into his eyes. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem," he replied suavely.

She leaned up to kiss him.

"What about the morning breath?" he asked.

"I don't care," she replied and they fell into a kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: **Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I really, really appreciate it. Keep them coming.

"Ray!"

Ray stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Susan who was just coming out of Trauma 1 with a little girl of around five. "Yeah?"

"This is Cammi. I just need someone to watch her while Abby sorts out some things with her mom."

Ray looked down at the child and then back up at Susan, defensively holding up the chart in his hand. "I'm on my way to a patient," he explained.

Susan stepped forward and took the chart out of his hand. "I'll take care of this. You keep Cammi company."

Ray was about to protest but Susan was gone. He turned his attention down to Cammi who was looking up at him. He smiled at her. "Hey, Cammi, I'm Ray."

Cammi smiled right back at him. "Hi, Ray."

"Ok, come on, let's find something fun to do, huh?"

Cammi nodded at him. He offered out his hand and she took hold of it as they walked off down the hall.

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Neela stood at the nurse's station, fighting a losing battle against a mountain of paperwork. Today really wasn't her day.

"Neela, can you take this dislocated shoulder in curtain 3 for me?" Luka asked, walking up to her with a chart.

"I'm a little snowed under right now, Luka," she pleaded.

"It's a quick one, I promise," said Luka as he placed the chart on top of her paperwork and walked away. Neela looked down at it, not impressed.

"Neela," said a female voice with a distinctive accent.

Neela looked up to see her mother and father standing in front of her. She was stunned. This really was the last thing she needed right now.

"Mum, dad," Neela stated dumbly, still assessing the situation in her mind. "What are you doing here?"

"You invited us, silly girl," her mother stated.

"I invited you, yes," Neela agreed. "But you're not supposed to be here until tonight."

"We got an earlier flight," her father explained. "We wanted to see you at work. I wanted to see that all that money was well spent."

"Dad, I'm paying you back for that. I'm working on it," Neela explained.

"Yes, and until you do it's still my money," her father stated matter-of-factly.

Neela looked annoyed but didn't say anything. She knew better than that. Instead she turned to Jerry who was sat typing at the computer a little away from her. "Jerry, can you page Ray for me, please?" she asked.

"Sure thing," he replied, reaching for the phone.

A little back-up, that's what she needed.

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Forty minutes and five pages later and Ray was nowhere to be seen. Neela was seething. Where the hell was he? She'd managed to convince her parents how busy she was and had made them wait in chairs but she could still see them looking at her.

And then she saw Ray approaching, far too casually for her liking. And next to him was some child wearing his stethoscope and holding a chart.

"Hey, Neela. This is my new friend, Cammi. That's Cammi with an 'I' and there's a little heart over the 'I'." Ray turned to Cammi. "Right?"

"Right," Cammi nodded.

Ray shot her a smile.

"Where have you been?" Neela asked him, but Ray didn't pick up on the tone.

"I've been with Cammi. Her mom was in an accident and now she's very tired so Cammi's being my assistant while mommy catches some shut-eye," Ray explained.

"I paged you five times," Neela stated.

"I didn't get any pages," Ray said, puzzled. He put his hand to his hip where he usually kept his pager. It wasn't there. He slid his hand across his waistband to his other hip. No pager. His gaze then fell to Cammi who was looking up at him. Of course, he gave his pager to Cammi along with his stethoscope and the chart. "Cammi, pager?"

Cammi took the pager off her own waistband and handed it to Ray.

"Thanks, sweetie," he said. He looked at the pager. "And it's off." He looked up at Neela. "Sorry."

"Well that's just bloody brilliant, isn't it? What if there was a trauma?" Neela asked, clearly very unhappy.

Ray looked at her like a little boy that had just been told off. "I said I was sorry, Neela."

Neela was getting more weary by the second. Her gaze fell down and she noticed Ray had a leather cuff on his wrist, a leather cuff that wasn't there earlier. "Where did that come from?" she asked. "You didn't have that on this morning."

Ray followed her gaze. "Oh, I found it in my locker." He looked up to see Neela looking very unimpressed. "What?"

Neela shook her head. She really couldn't be bothered to get into it right now.

"What did you want, anyway?" Ray asked her. She signalled to her parents sat in the waiting area. "What?" Ray asked. "Difficult patients? You need a hand?"

"They're my parents, Ray," Neela explained.

Ray looked back over at them. "Oh." He turned to face Neela again. "I thought they weren't coming 'til tonight."

"Yes, well, change of plan apparently." She stopped as she saw her parents were heading back over to her. She smiled at them. "Mum, dad, this is my boyfriend, Ray," she explained.

"Hi," Ray smiled at them and extended his hand out but no one took hold of it. Neela's mum looked his up and down and then started a conversation with Neela in Punjabi. Ray retracted his hand again. He saw Neela's dad looking at him so he smiled and gave a small nod but got no response.

_Great, _Ray thought to himself.

He turned his attention to Cammi who tugged a couple of times on the bottom of his lab coat.

"What are they saying, Ray?" Cammi asked him.

Ray looked over at Neela and her mother for a few seconds and then back down to Cammi. "I got no idea, kid."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I love feedback, it gives me a bouncy, bouncy feeling. Not to make this sound like a love in or anything but I just wanted to thank everyone again for all the reactions to my story, I really didn't expect to get this many people reading it. Anyway, enough from me, on with chapter five…

Neela stood in line at the hospital canteen along with Ray and Ray's new best friend, Cammi, who was standing annoyingly close to him. Well, it was annoying Neela anyway.

"Why do you have to watch her anyway?" Neela asked Ray quietly.

Ray looked up from his attempt to see what looked edible. "What?"

"Cammi. Can't a nurse watch her or something?"

"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Ray replied with a slight shrug. "I don't know. I don't really care, she's a cool kid."

Neela looked at Cammi. _Really? _she thought. Something about her was really getting on Neela's nerves but she couldn't quite place what.

"So what was your mom saying about me?" Ray asked her.

"Oh, erm…" Neela faltered. Ray noticed.

"She hates me, doesn't she?"

"No she doesn't," Neela replied a little too quickly. Ray raised his eyebrows at her. "She didn't say that, ok?"

"So what did she say?" Ray asked.

"Well, she said you were very American," Neela replied.

"What does that mean?"

Neela shrugged. "I don't really know."

They headed over to where Neela's parents had already sat down. Ray and Neela sat opposite them and Cammi sat by Ray, listening to her own heartbeat with Ray's stethoscope.

"So," Ray began, not quite sure where he was going with it. "How was the flight?" He asked.

"Long," Neela's father stated simply.

Ray nodded a little. "Good movie?"

"No."

Ok, Ray was officially out of small talk. Then Neela's mother turned to her and said something in Punjabi.

"Mum, stop it. That's really rude, you know Ray can't understand you. Speak in English," Neela said. Her mother gave a glance to Ray but decided not to repeat what she'd said. Neela rolled her eyes.

Susan walked up to the group. "Ray, I need to ask you a favour," she said.

"Oh, would you like me to go upstairs and supervise the crèche?" Ray asked sarcastically. "Or, hey, maybe I can go over to your place and watch Cosmo while you and Chuck take in dinner and movie?"

Susan didn't look particularly impressed by the joke. Neither did Neela who gave Ray a sharp but discreet elbow in the ribs. "Ow," he said as he turned to her but her face let him know that she meant business. He turned back to Susan. "Sorry, Susan. What's up?"

"Pratt's called in sick, can you do a double shift for me? I'd ask you, Neela, but I don't like to now that…" she cut off as she saw Neela shaking her head at her, praying she'd take the hint. She did. "…you did all that overtime last week," Susan finished. "Can you do it?" she asked, turning her attention back to Ray.

"Erm…" Ray began.

"No, not tonight, Susan," Neela cut in. "I'm sorry, no. My parents are in town."

Susan looked at Neela's parents and couldn't help but think that they didn't look particularly interested in anything, let alone spending more time with Ray. "Ok," she said, "I'll go ask Abby again. I might have to come back to you Ray.

Ray gave a nod as Susan exited. Cammi reached over and put the stethoscope over Ray's heart. Neela could feel herself getting more wound up. She wanted to grab the stethoscope off the child and throttle her with it. Ray, however, leaned back to give Cammi easier access and smiled down at her as she listened to his heart beating. The heart that was supposed to be loving Neela.

_Jealousy? _Neela thought. _Is that what this is? Am I jealous that I'm not the centre of his world? _But she was used to that. At work, anyway. She was used to watching him interact with patients and making them feel special. Especially the kids. He was great with the kids. But there was something about watching Ray and Cammi that was getting to her, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"So, you two have been together how long?" Neela's mother asked, taking her out of her train of thought.

"Erm, nearly four months," Neela replied.

"Not so long then," her mother said.

"Well, we were friends before that," Neela explained.

"How long were you friends for?" she asked.

"About a year," Neela replied.

"Still not so long then," her mother concluded.

"No, I guess not," Neela admitted.

"We spend a lot of time together though," Ray added. "We live together, we work together, we're very close."

_Thank you, _Neela thought.

"This makes up for time?" Neela's mother asked him.

"It can do," he mused. "I suppose it all depends on the relationship. All I know is that I love Neela and I have no intentions of living without her."

Neela smiled at him. Her parents, however, seemed unmoved. Neela turned her attention to her food, preparing to eat something when a wave of nausea hit her. _They shouldn't be allowed to call it 'morning sickness' when it comes randomly throughout the day like this, _she thought, trying to fight it. _They should call it 'baby infestation sickness', it's more truthful anyway. _And then she realised what she felt as she watched Ray and Cammi. Or, more specifically, what she felt when she looked at Cammi.

_Nothing._

No broodiness. No motherly instincts. No 'Aww, shucks, isn't she adorable.' None of it. Ok, so she wasn't exactly dying for a kid in the first place and she could never really hear her biological clock ticking but surely with all these pregnancy hormones she should feel something.

She started to get all hot and she knew that she couldn't ignore the sick feeling any longer. Not the physical sick feeling anyway.

"Excuse me," she said as she quickly stood up and rushed to the nearest bathroom, leaving everyone to watch after her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: **Sorry about the delay with this chapter but I've been really busy with work. You might have to get used to longer waits between chapters cos my workload doesn't look like lightening up any time soon unfortunately. Also, sorry if this chapter seems a bit crammed and rushed, I was trying to move the story along a bit but I'm not sure if it works. I'll try and spend more time on the next chapter to make it flow better.

Ray was not comfortable. He knew Neela had morning sickness to contend with but it was after noon and did he mention he wasn't comfortable?

"So, how are you guys enjoying Chicago so far?" Ray asked Neela's parents.

"Is she ok?" Neela's mother asked him, looking in the direction that Neela had just exited in.

"Neela? Yeah, she's fine. Had a stomach bug a couple of days ago, it's probably just a throwback to that," Ray explained, rather unconvincingly, before trying to change the subject. "I guess you haven't had much chance to see the city yet. Probably just the airport and the hospital, right? Well, Neela's got this great place in mind for dinner tonight, you'll love it."

"Maybe I should check on her," Neela's mother said distractedly, clearly not listening to a word Ray was saying.

"No," Ray said a little too sharply. "No," he said again, softly. "She likes to be on her own when she's sick. She'll just shout at you. Trust me, I know, she's always yelling at me." The look Neela's parents gave him caused him to quickly add, "Not that we fight a lot. We don't fight. She can just be a little stubborn. But not in a bad way."

_Oh God, Neela, please hurry up._

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Neela had had a bad day. Actually, that was one hell of an understatement. She took a deep breath as she stared into her locker. Her shift was finally over but she had a feeling things were only going to get worse.

Ray entered the lounge and she tried to looking like she wasn't completely vacant by taking a book out of her locker that she clearly didn't need. She cursed herself as Ray approached.

"Hey, you ready to get out of here?" he asked her.

"Erm, yeah," Neela replied distractedly as she wondered what the bloody hell she was doing with the stupid book.

"You ok?" Ray asked her.

"Yeah, sorry, yes," she replied, actually sounding convincing. "I was miles away," she explained.

"So, you ready to do this?" Ray asked with a small smile of anticipation.

Neela paused before calmly replying. "No."

Ray opened his mouth to reply when what she actually said suddenly hit him. A look of confusion came over his face. "Erm, what?"

"I've changed my mind, I don't want to tell them," Neela said matter-of-factly.

"Neela, we _have _to tell them," Ray insisted, trying to reason with her latest pregnancy related insanity.

"No we don't," Neela continued. "Think about it, I hardly ever see them, I bet we could hide it from them."

"Neela," Ray started but he drew a blank. He was running out of arguments with the woman. "That's just crazy," he stated eventually.

"Crazy?" Neela asked, starting to get worked up. "You think that's crazy? I'll tell you what's crazy. Me holding this book is crazy," she said as she waved said book in front of Ray a little. "Ray, I have no idea why I'm holding this book," she said weakly.

Ray wasn't quite sure what to make of all that. He looked at the book and then back to Neela. "Well, how about we put the book back in you locker?" he suggested.

"Ok," Neela said, allowing Ray to take the book out of her hand and place it back where it came from. "Sorry, I think I went a little crazy there," she admitted.

"Just a little," Ray conceded.

"I'm serious though," Neela explained. "I don't want to tell them, not right now. I mean, we'll have to tell them eventually, but not tonight. We can tell them tomorrow."

"Aren't you the woman who told me 'Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today'?" Ray asked her.

"Yes, Ray, but I was talking about the housework. And you ignored me, as I recall," Neela argued back. She sighed. "Ray, I really don't have the energy tonight. We'll do it tomorrow, I promise. They're all jetlagged and moody right now. We should give them time to adjust before we drop this on them."

"Yeah, ok, I guess you're right," Ray found himself admitting. "I'm going to hold you to tomorrow though," he promised.

Neela nodded. "Deal."

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One week later and Neela still hadn't found the right moment to tell her parents about their grandchild-to-be. The longer she'd left it, the harder it had got. And now it was their last day in the country so she knew she had to do it pretty bloody soon.

As of this second, however, she was once again fighting her morning sickness and her father was taking an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom. She was stood in the kitchen sipping at a glass of water when her mother entered.

"Hi, mum," she said, attempting to sound cheery.

"Me and your father are all packed now," her mother explained. "We'll be out of your hair tonight."

"Don't be silly, mum," Neela said. "You haven't been any trouble."

"You've been stressed," her mother stated dryly. "It can't be good for the baby."

_What? _Neela choked on the sip of what she was taking. "What baby?" she managed weakly after she'd finished coughing.

"Your baby," her mother said patiently. "The baby you're carrying."

"Mum, I'm not pregnant," Neela said. _Why the hell did I just say that? _she thought to herself.

"Why are you lying?" her mother asked her.

Neela paused as she looked up at her mother. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Because you took me by surprise. Because I wanted to tell you myself. With Ray here. Because… because I'm scared of what you're going to say."

"I'm going to say that you're foolish," her mother began. Neela nodded and looked down, resigning herself to the lecture that was undoubtedly coming her way. "And I'm going to say that you're lucky."

Neela looked back up. "Lucky?"

"To have Ray," her mother explained. "He seems to have his head on his shoulders. Most of the time. He can be jumpy though. And he talks too much. Often without thinking first."

Neela smiled. _All very true. _But, then, that's why she loved him.

"He seems like he'll be a good father. He's good with children. He has a bond with them. Probably because he has the mental age of a five-year-old."

Neela smiled wider. _Again, very true._

"I really thought you were going to go mad at me," Neela stated.

"I would have done," her mother admitted. "When I found out on that first day I was very unhappy. I disliked Ray extremely and I thought the whole situation was just terrible. But Ray's not so bad. You could do better. Back in England you could definitely do better." Neela rolled her eyes. "But I still think you did ok."

"Well, thank you, mother," Neela said, genuinely pleased with how this was going. "Wait a minute. You knew the day you arrived?" Neela asked.

"Of course. The morning sickness, the mood swings, the look on your face. I know you, Neela. And I knew it must be something big when you invited me and your father over here."

"Dad," Neela said distractedly. "I still have to tell dad."

"I already have," her mother explained.

"You did?" Neela asked.

"Yes, we both know," she nodded.

"Oh," Neela said, somehow a little upset that she didn't get to break her big news to someone. "Ok then."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ray and Neela stood at the check in desk, saying goodbye to Neela's parents. Neela's mother gave her a hug and Ray couldn't help but notice that it was the first time he'd seen the two in any kind of close physical contact. _No, _Ray thought, _they must have hugged when Neela finally got round to telling her about the bun in the oven._

Neela's father pulled Ray subtly away from the others and out of his train of thought. "I hope you have a nice flight," Ray said cheerily.

"If you hurt my daughter, I will hurt you," Neela's father stated simply.

_Ok, slightly out of left field, _Ray thought. He wasn't exactly sure what the correct response to such a comment was. "I don't intend to," he said, still a little lost.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Neela's father stated.

_So that's where Neela gets the random sayings from, _Ray thought.

Neela and her mother broke hug and her parents prepared to leave, picking up their bags.

"I want a picture of that baby when it's born," Neela's mother stated.

"Of course," Neela said.

"Picture? You're coming to babysit," Ray joked. Neela's parent's didn't look impressed. _Right, they don't like my jokes, _Ray remembered. _Although they don't look like they want to bludgeon me and that's a big improvement._

"We'll talk to you soon, mum," Neela said.

They all said their goodbyes and Neela and Ray watched the retreating forms of her parents. Neela felt a load lifted off her shoulders. The two of them turned and started to walk out of the airport.

"Guess all we have to do is tell your mum now," Neela said.

"That's cool, I already told her," Ray explained.

Neela stopped walking. "What?"

Ray also stopped and looked at Neela. "What did I do now?"

"You told her without me?" Neela asked, obviously hurt.

"Well, it was when you first told me and you wouldn't talk to me. I had to talk to someone, Neela," Ray explained.

"Fine," Neela said as she started walking again. Ray quickly followed after her.

_Good work, Barnett._


End file.
